The Beer Nut: Welcome new beers and beer books

Wednesday

Apr 23, 2014 at 12:00 PMApr 28, 2014 at 7:42 AM

By Norman MillerDaily News staff

As the weather begins to warm, the beer world is heating up with new beers being introduced and one local brewery saying goodbye to one of their beers.The Harpoon Brewery has introduced two new beers. The first is the latest in the UFO series, Big Squeeze. Big Squeeze is a German-style radler that blends beer and juice, in this case grapefruit juice. This version is 4.2 percent alcohol by volume (ABV).If you follow me on Twitter, you'll notice that I drink tons of radlers during the summer, so I'm really looking forward to this.Also coming from Harpoon is the latest 100 Barrel Series, the Citra Victorious. The Citra Victorious is the winning beer from the latest employee brewing contest. The team of Merrill Allen, Jessie Cox, Shannon Cudmore, Liz Melby and Carolyn Orth developed this pale ale that is made with Citra hops and grapefruit peels, giving this beer big citrus and grapefruit flavors.Both Harpoon beers are currently available. The Big Squeeze is in 12-ounce bottles and cans, while Citra Victorious is available in 22-ounce bombers.Another new beer to look out for is the first beer in the Stone Spotlight Series from the Stone Brewing Company - the Sprocketbier, a black rye Kolsch-style ale.Kolschs are usually low alcohol, almost delicate beers that have nuanced flavors. I was worried that the spicy rye and the roasted notes from the dark malts would kill this beer.Shockingly, it does not. It's definitely not a traditional Kolsch, but the flavors work, making this an easy drinking and refreshing beer. The Sprocketbier will be available soon in bombers.This week, the Smuttynose Brewing Company has announced they are retiring the Star Island Single from its year-round lineup. The Star Island Single, a Belgian pale ale, was introduced in 2009.But don't be worried, fans of low-alcohol beer options, Smuttynose is adding two low-alcohol options to its year-round lineup (and they're both better beers than the Star Island Single).Beginning in May, Bouncy House, Smuttynose's 4.3 percent ABV IPA, will be moved from being an occasional release to a year-round beer. It will hit liquor stores around Memorial Day.In June, the Vunderbar Pilsner, a 5.1 percent pilsner, will be hitting shelves as the second new full time beer.There's also some exciting news for Samuel Adams fans. For the first time, growlers are being offered at the Jamaica Plain brewery. The 64-ounce growlers will range between $10 and $20, depending on the style of beer. Most of the beers are growler-only beers. They currently include the Maibock, the Colonial Ale, Belgian Porter, Belgian Pale Ale, Scotch Ale and Word to the Weisse.And last, but not least, two new beer books are coming to bookstore shelves and are worth checking out.The first is "Crafty Bastards: Beer in New England from the Mayflower to Modern Day," by Lauren Clark. The book chronicles beer making in New England from when the Pilgrims arrived all the way until today.The second book is a cheap plug. My book, "Boston Beer: A History of Brewing in the Hub," will be released on April 29. It chronicles the role Boston pubs played in the start of the American Revolution, the breweries that dominated Boston until Prohibition and the current breweries that still call Boston their home.Email Norman Miller at nmiller@wickedlocal.com or call 508-626-3823. Check out the Beer Nut blog at blogs.wickedlocal.com/beernut. Follow him on Twitter at @realbeernut. Also check out "Norman Miller, The Beer Nut" on Facebook.

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